Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya News: Navodaya schools to get Net

Calcutta Telegraph

New Delhi, Dec. 22: The Navodaya Vidyalayas, located mostly in rural and remote areas in the country, are set to get broadband connectivity soon.

Human resource and development minister Kapil Sibal, who is holding the additional charge of the telecom ministry, has asked BSNL to provide broadband connectivity to the 583 schools, which mainly cater to meritorious rural children.

“The minister had asked BSNL last week to provide broadband connectivity to the Navodaya Vidyalayas. BSNL has started working on the project,” a top official revealed.

The move will help the schools improve their teaching methodology by taking advantage of technology. These schools will be connected to each other through broadband network which will enable them to share lectures and e-learning materials.

The schools can also have their virtual labs by using Internet. Students can do science experiments in their computers at these labs without using chemicals, an official in Navodaya Vidyalya Samiti, the organisation running such schools, said.

Although the schools have computer labs, they do not have access to Internet. About 2.07 lakh students are registered in these schools which are perceived as islands of excellence. The schools have established themselves as among the best with 97 per cent pass out rate in board examinations.

About 74 per cent of the students are from families with annual incomes less than Rs 48,000. Nearly 11 per cent students in these schools are first generation learners of their families.

Unlike the Kendriya Vidyalayas, the Navodayas are located in remote and rural areas. They admit students from Class VI onwards through entrance tests.

The initiative to connect the schools through broadband is aimed at providing a level playing field to students who are mainly from rural backgrounds. These students, unlike their counterparts in private schools in urban locations, remain handicapped in the areas of e-learning despite doing well in studies.

In a similar initiative, the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) has decided to provide interest-free loans to its nearly 40,000 teachers to purchase laptops. The KVS runs 1,073 schools in the country.

It will provide interest-free loan of Rs 27,000 to each teacher and the loan will be recovered in three years. .